State Briefs

Friday

Jul 28, 2017 at 5:00 AM

Associated Press

2 teens hit trying to cross busy interstate

CINCINNATI (AP) -- Police say two teens were hit while trying to cross a busy highway in Ohio.

Authorities say a group of about 20 teens tried to cross Interstate 275 in Colerain Township just before 5 p.m. Wednesday. Police say several people called 911 to report the group trying to cross before the teens were hit by a car.

Colerain police spokesman Jim Love says drivers got out of their cars to help the hurt teens, but the other children in the group ran away as officers arrived.

Love says the two teens who were hit have been hospitalized, and their injuries are not life-threatening.

Love says the driver of the car that hit the teens stopped after the collision and is cooperating with police.

Trooper's death trial begins in Cleveland

CLEVELAND (AP) -- A prosecutor has told jurors in the trial of a driver accused of fatally hitting a state trooper along a Cleveland highway that the driver showed a "reckless disregard" of traffic laws.

An assistant prosecutor also told jurors in opening statements Wednesday that Joshua Gaspar, of Columbia Station, lied to get a driver's license before the crash and took methadone shortly before driving. Trooper Kenneth Velez was killed Sept. 15.

Gaspar previously pleaded not guilty to charges including aggravated vehicular homicide and causing an officer's death while driving recklessly or under the influence of drugs.

Gaspar's attorney told jurors Gaspar took methadone prescribed for an addiction to painkillers he developed after injuring his back and his license was valid. He said the drug didn't affect Gaspar's ability to drive.

Warning given of sedative disguised as OxyContin

CLEVELAND (AP) -- Officials in northeast Ohio are issuing a warning after detecting a large animal sedative in pills disguised as the pain medication OxyContin.

Cuyahoga County's medical examiner, Dr. Thomas Gilson, said in a statement Wednesday that the pills were discovered by Cleveland police. He says they contain carfentanil, an opioid used to tranquilize elephants.

The sedative is thousands of times more powerful than OxyContin and was linked to 58 deaths in Cuyahoga County last year. It's so toxic that an amount of carfentanil smaller than a poppy seed can kill a person. The sedative was researched for years as a chemical weapon.

Gilson says that people who purchase pills on the street are most at risk of accidentally overdosing. Pills supplied by pharmacies are not affected.